Remarks on the proposal of a global standard for billionaires’ tax (G. Zucman’s report for G20)

Abstract

The question how to tax billionaires leads to numerous controversies, both fiscal and political. The hot debate regarding this issue is ongoing in many countries, and globalization processes have moved it to the international level.

In the past, so called the G20 group has successfully initiated important international tax initiatives. Recently, it decided to look closer at the possibilities of multinational cooperation in increasing the fiscal burden on billionaires to secure tax progressiveness and eliminate tax avoidance. The group commissioned a special report (assigned to Prof. G. Zucman from EU Tax Observatory) recommending the creation of a global standard in this area. The article discusses this report, with attempt to present its conclusions against the background of the current reality and principles of global tax order. The thesis of this article is that recommendations of Prof. G. Zucman’s report could lead to the petrification of the current wealth allocation structure.